When I saw that somebody had used the search terms “Potato Mc Shake” and ended up at The Daily Spud, I knew that it was time to revisit my potato shake, before the giants of the fast food industry stole my thunder.

So I boldly returned to where only I (to the best of my knowledge) had boldly gone before and went back to work on the spud shake formula, enlisting a few skeptical guinea pigs to sample the results.

In the end, there wasn’t that much to it. I took the basic formula of spuds, milk, honey and lecithin that had made its debut chez Aoife Mc, added a bit of salt, and topped up with mango for version one and banana for version two. The skeptics were really not quite so skeptical afterward and declared banana the winner and themselves spud shake survivors, which makes them members of a really, as yet, rather exclusive club!

And so, without further ado, I give you the spud shake formula and wonder when it will happen that future searches for “Potato Mc Shake” will bring the world, not to my door, but to the latest, em, “innovation” by a certain well-known fast food emporium…

Spud Shake: The Potato Milkshake, Two Ways

You may (or may not) find it reassuring to note that this does not actually contain a lot of potato. For the amount specified here (which, I would say, makes 2 small, thick shakes), you’d need less than one average-sized spud, so you may as well cook up more than that and use the remaining specimens for something more conventional. You can also add more milk if you prefer it not to be quite so thick.

The Base Shake:

50g cooked potato

100ml milk

pinch of salt

1 tblsp honey

1 tblsp lecithin granules

The Fruity Bit:

200g fresh mango chunks (flesh from 1 ripe mango)

or

1 ripe banana

You’ll also need:

A blender

The Steps:

You need just a small amount of potato which has been boiled or steamed and then allowed to cool (so, as noted above, do cook more than one spud, you’ll always find a use for the others).

Add the cooled potato, milk, fruit (either the banana or mango) and a pinch of salt to the blender and (guess what) blend.

Now add the honey. Start with just one or two tsp, blend and taste and add more if you like.

Add the lecithin granules and blend. You can leave the lecithin out if you like, but it really does improve the texture of the shake.

Now take a deep breath, pour and drink. It’s really not that bad!

The Variations:

Well, I figure if you’re game enough to get this far, you might have variations of your own that you’ll want to try.

The Results:

This probably amounts to spud shake for 2. It’s quite rich and thick, so you really don’t need big portions. That, coupled with the fact that (if you tell them what’s in it) people are going to think it strange enough to only want a small amount to begin with anyway!

Update: Because I think that it’s only right and proper that the spud shake should keep company with other fine potato-y creations, this goes out to the Potato Ho Down, being hosted this month by Krysta at Evil Chef Mom on June 17th.

Go, DS, go! I’d bet that adding that bit of salt makes a huge difference. IMO, it’s lack of salt that makes pumpkin pie always taste so flat to me. For goodness’ sake, it’s a vegetable. Give it some salt! I can see where folks might prefer the banana shake, since the texture of blended banana is thick and creamy, but I’m going to go with the mango version, I think. Or, hey–how about a coconut version? Change the milk to coconut milk, add a bit of lime juice and Voila–the spud colada!!

Jenni’s on to something – a Spud Colada sounds awesome. But everything brilliant has to start at the beginning and that would be your Spud Shake 2.0! The richer and thicker, the better to spoon it. The only thing that stops me from making this immediately is that we killed our blender a while back and have yet to replace it. But this will be the recipe with which we will inaugurate our new one!

I’d go for a spud colada. =) Well done. A new way to take in the potato. I like that you added some mango. Give it a little fruity flavor. I will have to try this one for sure as I’ve never had a spud shake.

Something I never would have imagined. Creative for sure and I would be daring enough to give it a try. I have no doubt it is a pleasant surprise. I’ll have to go with the mango. :)

Comment by Daily Spudon Sunday, May 31, 2009 @ 10:53 pm

gastroanthropologist: well, if you don’t have issues with using raw eggs, an egg yolk would be one alternative source of lecithin and would probably have a similar emulsifying effect (but then you’ve got a raw egg spud shake, which is something a bit different…)

The tale of the blender’s demise rests on my propensity to freeze and forget: I purchased a bag of frozen mango cubes which was ultimately buried under sundry ice-encased foodstuff in the freezer. Then, like a wooly mammoth discovered in the permafrost, I found it during the spring thaw. I had visions of a mango smoothie; what I didn’t realize is that much like the aforementioned mammoth, the mangos had become petrified . . . poor, poor blender.

Nom. Who’d have thought it eh? A spud smoothie! Loving the Lecithin (BTW if you’re a bit interested in the science stuff, you must bag a copy of McGee on Food & Cooking) and the Spud Colada is sounding very promising! x

I could totally see those purple potatoes in this frothy concoction, the fruit addition sounds lovely, you had me thinking along the lines of a lassie of spuds, but my rhyming ability is gone. Maybe the Purple Mammoth in honor of TN’s deceased blender.

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